Digital counter for compact group indicating and/or recording



May 13, 1958 H. M. HEUVER DIGITAL COUNTER FOR COMPACT.GROUP INDICATIONAND/OR RECORDING Filed March 30, 1955 & & INVENTOR.

romvss N i j T 8/ 7 9/ Q wh s/ 9/ 9 E Z I x m MA ,2 ,D/

gmg A Q a l o wt t w r f 3 MNAQN W m mw 3 mi km WN 0 0 0 Q eter of thenumber wheels.

nite States The invention described herein may be manufactured and usedby or for the United States Government for governmental purposes Withoutpayment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to registers and more particularly to a registersuitable for combination into a bank of registers for a compact groupingof data to be recorded.

Many projects and processes require the use of large numbers of digitalcounters or registers to simultaneously record separate and independentdata. Prior digital counters or registers comprised a plurality ofinterconnected axially spaced number wheels with indicia uniformlydisposed on their outer surface. When a bank of identical registers wasformed by positioning a plurality of these registers in spaced, paralleland abutting relationship, the readings on each register was separatedfrom the readings on an adjacent register by at least the diam- Theseseparations required the use of wider rolls of recording paper and inaddition to the wastage of paper, the difficulties of handling the paperbecame important as the number of registers in the bank increased. Itis, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide aregister adapted to be combined in a bank wherein the indicia of eachregister in the bank lies in closely spaced parallel rows for compactrecordmg.

A further object of this invention is to provide a reg ister comprisinga plurality of interconnected number chains.

An additional object is to provide a register wherein the height of theindicia on the register is substantially the same as a dimension on theregister.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent fromthe following description taken in con junction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a register disclosing a plurality ofinterconnected chains with their number links in recording position.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. l disclosing the driving gear inthe toothed portion of the chain links.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. l disclosing toothless portionsof standard chain links and transfer links with gear teeth adapted tomesh with a transfer gear.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4 and discloses details of thetransfer mechanism of the chain register.

Fig. 6 discloses a bank of independent registers in close abutment withthe data on the registers recorded both on paper and reflected in amirror.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, each register 50, 5i), 5%", etc., comprisesa rectangular support or casing 12. Orbit forming guideways 18 arerigidly mounted in the casing. A plurality of interconnected flexibilebelts rigid in sections, or link chains 10, 10, 10", rides on thesurface of these orbit forming guideways, see Figs. 1, 4 and 5. Theorbit forming guideways are shaped to cause the endless fiexible beltsor link chains to follow a substantially rectangular orbit. The width ofthese rectangular orbits is substantially equal to the width of therectangular support or casing 12. Each chain is composed of twentypivotally connected elongated substantially rectangular rigid sectionsor links including standard links 11 and transfer links 24 and 25, seeFig. 2. The chain is formed as an elongated endless loop and comprisesbight portions atent "ice 31 and opposed side portions 34. The chainsare dis posed perpendicular to the plane of base 13 of each register.

Each link or rigid section 11 or 24 and 25 comprises an outer surface 23and an inner surface. A portion 26 of the inner surface of each rigidsection or link is in sliding engagement with said orbit formingguideways 18, see Fig. 4. A belt driving signal responsive means ismounted in support 12. It includes a driven shaft 14 rotatably journaledin the side of the casing and an integral or driven gear 15. The axis ofthe driven shaft 14 is disposed in a plane parallel to the base 13 ofthe register and is perpendicular to the plane of the orbit of thechains, as seen in Fig. 5. Driven gear 15 meshes sequentially with gearteeth 16 disposed on another portion of the inner surface of each linkof the first driving chain it), see Fig. 2, causing the chain or belt tomove around an orbit determined by the orbit forming guideways 18. Thismovement is assisted by guide surfaces 19 on the walls of therectangular support on casing 12. The guide surfaces engage the outersurfaces 23 of rigid sections or links and hold the flexible belts orchains in contact with the orbit forming guideways. Gear teeth 16 andthe portion 26 on the inner surface of each standard and transferlinkare in spaced parallel relationship, see Figs. 2 and 4. Spacer shafts 40are parallel to and coplanar with driven shaft 14 and are secured towalls 19, see Fig. 5. Spacer gears 41 are rotatable on shaft 40 and meshwith the toothed portions 16 of the links 10, 10, 10", etc., and serveas an additional means for maintaining the opposed side portions of thechain in spaced parallel relationship.

Motion transfer means are connected between adjacent chains or belts ineach register. These comprise independently rotatable bearing shafts 20,20', etc., see Fig. 5, rotatably mounted on driven shaft 14. A belt orchain driven transfer gear 21, a keeper 22 and a belt or chain drivinggear 15 are rigidly secured to bearing shaft 20 and, in cooperation withtransfer links 24 and 25 in chain it), constitute a transfer mechanismfor actuating number chain 10. Transfer links 24 and 25, have on theirinner surface in addition to the gear teeth 16 in alignment with gearteeth on the standard links, additional transfer gear teeth 17 disposedin spaced parallel relation to gear teeth 16, see Fig. 3. As is evidentfrom an inspection of Fig. 3, transfer links 24 and 25 engage transfergear 21 twice during each movement of the chain links around the orbit.Each engagement revolves gear 21, keeper 22, and chain driving gear 15'/2 revolution. Since chain driving gear 15' is identical to driven gear15, and is in mesh with gear teeth 16 on the links of chain 10, theresult of this half revolution is that each link of chain 10' moves aspace of one link along its orbit.

Keeper 22 plays an important part in maintaining a proper alignment ofthe chains because it prevents any rotation of gear 15' until links 24and 25 engage gear 21. Keeper 22 is a substantially rectangular elementmounted on shaft 2!). Sides 27 of the keeper are parallel to and closelyadjacent the flat surfaces 26 of standard links 11 to prevent the keeperand gears 21 and 15 from rotating until the proper time. in addition asan added or double function these side surfaces help maintain therectangular orbit of the chains. As seen in Fig. 4, transfer links 24and 25 have relieved or recessed portions 28 on their inner surfaceadjacent to and parallel to gear teeth 1'7. When the transfer links arein the position shown in Fig. 4, the relieved portions 28 permit keeper22 to rotate with gears 21 and 15. This transfer mechanism is duplicatedfor adjacent chains Iii, 10, etc., see Fig. 5.

The outer surface 23 of each link carries a number in the form of type.The number on each link is substantially the same size as the rigidsection or link of the chain, see Fig. 1.

The twenty links in each chain are numbered in the following order: 0,1, 2, 9,0, l, 2, 9. Since there are twenty links per chain, the numbersat the opposed bight portions will be the same permitting the compactgrouping of the recorded data to be printed at one end of the registeron paper 32, and permitting direct observation of the data at the otherend by use of a mirror 33, see Fig. 6. As seen in Fig. 2, the links areconstrained to move in a substantially rectangular orbit wherein thebight portions 31 of the rectangular orbit are substantially equal tothe height of the links, and at least equal to the greatest span betweenopposed side portions 4.

For recording purposes, it is necessary that the chains or belts bepositioned on the orbit forming guideways so that the links at the bightportions 31 be in the position shown in Fig. 2 and their indicium recordthe valve of the signal to the register. To accomplish this, well knownaligning means, not disclosed, are adapted to engage and lock shaft 14whereby the links at the bight portions of each register are moved intoproper position at the moment the data is to be recorded. In operation,each revolution of shaft 14 moves two links of chain 10 past the bightportion. When the tenth link is moved over the bight portion, thetransfer mechanism actuates chain 10 so one link of that chain movespast the bight portion. If, initially the register is set at 0, that is,all the indicia at the bight portions read 0, ten movements of the linkof chain 10 past the bight portions produces a zero reading on chain 10and the 1 reading on chain 10'.

The invention may be embodied with other specific functions withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Thepresent embodiment is, therefore, to be considered as illustrative andnot restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than the foregoing description and all changeswhich come within the meaning and range of the claims are thereforeconsidered to be embodied therein.

What I claim is:

1. A register comprising a support, orbit forming guideways rigidlymounted in said support, an endless flexible belt riding on said orbitforming guideways, said endless flexible belt rigid in sections, each ofsaid rigid sections having an outer surface and an inner surface,indicium on the outer surface of each rigid section, a portion of saidinner surface in sliding engagement with said orbit forming guideways,belt driving signal responsive means mounted in said support, anotherportion of said rigid sections having means adapted to be sequentiallyengaged by said belt driving signal responsive means so that theflexible belt is moved along said orbit forming guideways to an extentdetermined by a signal to the belt driving signal responsive means.

2. A register for compact group indication comprising a support, orbitforming guideways rigidly mounted in said support, an endless flexiblebelt rigid in sections riding on the surface of said orbit formingguideways, said orbit forming guideways shaped to cause said endlessflexible belt to follow a substantially rectangular orbit, saidrectangular orbit having a width substantially equal to the length of asingle rigid section, each of said rigid sections having an outersurface and an inner surface, indicium on the outer surface of eachrigid section substantially equal to the size of the rigid section, aportion of said inner surface of said rigid section in slidingengagement with said orbit forming guideways, belt driving signalresponsive means mounted in said support, another portion of the innersurface of said rigid sections having means adapted to be sequentiallyengaged by said belt driving signal responsive means so that theflexible belt is moved along its rectangular orbit to an extentdetermined by the signal to the belt driving signal responsive means,said endless flexible belt positioned on said orbit forming guideways sothat the indicium on the rigid sections at the end of the rectangularorbit records the value of the signal to the register.

3. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein said portion of the innersurface of said rigid section Which is in sliding engagement with thesurface of said orbit forming guideways is in spaced parallelrelationship to the portion of the inner surface of said rigid sectionshaving means adapted to be sequentially engaged by said belt drivingsignal responsive means.

4. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein said register includes aplurality of identical orbit forming guideways rigidly secured to saidsupport, a plurality of endless flexible belts rigid in sections ridingon the surfaces of said orbit forming guideways, said endless flexiblebelts disposed in spaced parallel relationship, motion transfer meansmounted in said support, said motion transfer means connecting adjacentendless flexible belts so that they move in a predetermined relationshipwith respect to each other.

5. The apparatus set forth in claim 4 wherein said endless flexiblebelts include a predetermined number of rigid transfer sections, saidrigid transfer sections having means on their inner surface adapted toperiodically engage said motion transfer means.

6. The apparatus set forth in claim 5 wherein said portions of the innersurface of said rigid transfer section in sliding contact with thesurface of said orbit forming guideways and said portion of the innersurface having means adapted to be sequentially engaged by said beltdriving signal responsive means is in spaced parallel relationship tothe portion of the inner surface of said rigid transfer section havingmeans adapted to periodically engage said motion transfer means.

7. The apparatus set forth in claim 6 wherein said belt driving signalresponsive means is a driven shaft and an integral gear, said means onthe portion of the inner surface of said rigid sections adapted to besequentially engaged by said belt driving signal responsive meanscomprising gear teeth, said gear teeth adapted to mesh with saidintegral gear, said motion transfer means comprising at least onecoaxial freely rotatable shaft rotating on said driven shaft, a beltdriven transfer gear, a belt driving gear and a keeper integrallymounted on said coaxial shaft, said belt driving gear adapted tosequentially engage gear teeth on the inner surface of the rigidsections of the next adjacent endless flexible belt, said keeper havingguide surfaces engaging portions of the inner surfaces of said rigidsections and maintaining the rectangular orbit of said endless flexiblebelt, said rigid transfer sections including transfer gear teeth on aportion of their inner surface, said transfer gear teeth in spacedparallel relationship to the gear teeth sequentially engaged by saidintegral gear and positioned to periodically engage said belt driventransfer gear to rotate said coaxial shaft and cause said next adjacentendless flexible belt to move along its orbit, said rigid transfersections further including recessed portions on their inner surface,said recessed portions positioned to permit said keeper to rotate withsaid coaxial shaft when said motion transfer means is actuated.

8. The apparatus set forth in claim 2 wherein said support is arectangular casing and has inner guide surfaces, said inner guidesurfaces in sliding contact with the outer surfaces of said rigidsections for holding said endless flexible belts in contact with saidorbit forming guideways, said rectangular casing having widthsubstantially equal to the width of the rectangular orbit of the endlessflexible belt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS103,221 Nary May 17, 1870 158,853 Martin Jan. 19, 1875 375,804 DavidsJan. 3, 1888 1,483,806 Hendrix Feb. 12, 1924

